red curry coconut thai soup

I realized that it's time for a recipe that is not weird in any sense at all! I know, I've been pretty experimental where my cooking is concerned... breakfast pizzas, baked eggs, chocolate dipped pretzels... well, today I'm going for something different. And guess what? It's even healthy! 

What I am talking about is a red curry coconut thai soup. and what a delicious soup it is!!! When I first tried this recipe, I was astonished not only by its great taste but also by the utter simplicity to make it. Believe me: I'm not a hell of a cook and I certainly don't like complicated menues (which is probably because I'm a tiny bit too structured when cooking and I'm always following the instructions of a recipe meticulously). So the less instructions the better!

And in times like these, where its grey and cold outside and the temperate crawls under 10°C... nothing warms you up better than a nice spicey soup.

Ingredients – serves about 4 to 6 as a soup course or light entrée

• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 2 heaping tbsp red curry paste (I’d suggest this one)
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 2 cups coconut cream
• 1 lime, halved
• 10 large button mushrooms, sliced
• a handful of baby corn, cut into halves or chunks
• a handful of snow pea pods, ends trimmed
• 2 chicken breasts, sliced
• 1 cup loosely packed cilantro, washed and dried
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper

Directions
In a medium pot, heat up the oil on medium heat for a minute or two. Add the red curry paste and stir until it starts to melt (1 or 2 minutes). Add the vegetable stock, coconut cream, lime halves and cook for 10 to 15 minutes.

Some extra advice for those of you who really like it healthy: Remove the pot from heat and allow to cool slightly (10 to 15 minutes). This will allow some of the oil to gather at the top so you can skim it of if you want to.

Put the broth back on the heat and bring back to a simmer over medium heat. You can remove the lime halves at this point. In a separate pan, gently roast the sliced chicken and add to the soup. Also add the snow peas, baby corn and mushrooms and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or just until tender.  Give it a taste and adjust salt and pepper to your liking (I usually like it very spicy, so I added a lot of pepper and some more red curry paste).

Now spoon into serving bowls (you best use preheated ones) and top with sprigs of fresh cilantro. And you’re done! Nothing left to do but to spoon out and wait for the soup to warm you from the inside…

Until my soup is ready, I'll snuggle up in a blanket and read a bit!

xo linskaya